Questionable Questing

Hoping to maintain the truce the two sides have. Through the reporter we come to learn that Charlie's has had an on and off war with the church for the last several hundred years over influence and power, as certain section of the Church see Charlie as the Antichrist and an existential threat. With her directly going to Italy and meeting the Pope under neutral ground to try and sort this mess out.

A jojo or rocky figure?

Do we get sympathetic pov from Catholics pointing out serious issues in Charlie's faction?

Like how the porn logic is insane or her imperalism?

In Between the meeting with the Pope, you have elements of the cult trying to instigate violence between the two groups with their subverted spy ring in the church not something they wanted to lose but if they have to burn it they can at least try to spark tensions with their two mortal enemies fighting each other. With the Sicilian Mafia getting involved in this whole shit show.

Since the big reveal, is that one of the Aztec artifacts the Pirate discovered being what started the corruption as a Spanish mission in Mexico accidentally stumbled onto it and where corrupted, thus giving the cult the in and now through the Mafia they are trying to smuggle it out of Italy before Charlie or the Pope discover it. Thus creating a brawl between all these factions.

What god is the artifact connected too?

Does the Pope have magic here?

But I fully intend to show the Catholic's in a more sympathetic side. With neither one really wanting an all out war and both side genuinely wanting to do good. It's just like you said, they are absolutely terrified not only what a loss of their own authority it would be if they allowed Charlie to continue her investigations but also the fear that she could corrupt some of the last strongholds they have in London.

Since England does not have the best relationship with Catholics, it made it very easy for Charlie to practically push them all off the island. But yes, the Pope and many of his higher priest do have magic powers and they also have access to some of the oldest Keylines/artifacts and are one of the biggest forces that can effectively negative Charlies powers.

Keylines. So how does that work? The magic systems rules and style, its cool stuff

And the god the artifact is connected too is Xipe Totec. He's the Aztec god that likes wearing people's flayed skin which is meant to represent death/rebirth. Some pretty sick stuff if you look it up.

Does he have any good traits?

The Keylines form naturally like rivers or lakes, feeding off on energy put off by living things. With jungles and tropical rainforests having the strongest of the so-called wild Keylines. But wild energy is nothing compared to the ergy humans put off, with all the major Keylines basically following the path of human development as more people meant they generated more power, which made the lines stronger.

With over time humans discovered these lines and learned how to manipulate them by communing with old spirits and godly figures. With it being a bit of a chicken and an egg situation where, nobody knows if the gods made humans or the humans made gods through their belief. Doesn't really matter. It's a symptomatic relationship where the gods teach and the humans pray giving power.

With the older gods having more power but also more rigid personalities and beliefs, as a consequence of so many humans believing in a combined interpretation of them that they then have to follow. Which neatly leads to Babel. The first Keylines and the source of it all. Which its not the strongest line, but it's the oldest one and is the source of basically the source code of the engine so to speak.

So every major city like Parris or London is a massive magical resource hotspot

It's the place where the first gods were created and also where the first humans were taught how to use the Keylines, and thus the language they used, also called runes, became the basis for all future rituals and techniques for manipulating the Keylines. With each word getting tied to a concept or idea like fire, water, etcetera, and by writing these words you can summon those aspects for various effects.

Every major city has multiple hot spots, centered around major historical landmarks or areas of importance. With even some cities through the worship of its people developing their own personalities and spirits to help protect and guide those hot spots.

Interesting. Can you write the runes like glowing symbols in the air or need a material to put them on? Body runes?